Policy Address steps up settlement of HK's 'legacy issues'
日期：2023-11-01来源：
紫荆
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By Tu Haiming
In his second Policy Address unveiled last week, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu not only presented long-term strategies with well-defined goals but also included practical measures that target short-term issues.
The policy blueprint demonstrates vision and pragmatism, putting the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's results-oriented governance philosophy into full play.
Many of the problems mentioned in the Policy Address are legacy issues — or what I call "outstanding accounts" accumulated over the years.
These longstanding issues are intricate and formidable, and take time and effort to resolve. But the incumbent administration has grasped the nettle and confronted them head-on.
Housing and land shortages remain Hong Kong's biggest problem. Increasing public housing supply is essentially part of the efforts to settle the "outstanding accounts". The first-term HKSAR administration set a policy objective of building no fewer than 85,000 housing flats per year. However, that objective failed to be realized. And the supply of public housing has persistently failed to meet the demand, resulting in long waiting times for potential tenants, many of whom have endured poor living conditions for years.
It's thus encouraging that the government has identified sufficient land resources to meet the housing demand in the next 10 years, as revealed by Lee in his Policy Address, who noted that the average waiting time for public rental housing peaked at six years and has retreated to 5.3 years, and who foresees a further retreat to 4.5 years by 2026-27.
Aside from the many task-specific working groups the administration has established or pledged to establish, Lee announced the establishment of a Task Force on Tackling the Issue of Subdivided Units, signaling the government's determination to tackle this deep-seated problem once and for all.
The HKSAR government has recognized the increasing importance of cross-boundary elderly care in coping with rising demands as the population ages.
In his Policy Address, Lee indicates that the government will explore subsidizing elderly recipients of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance who opt to stay in residential care homes for the elderly under the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong to better support elderly people who choose to retire on the Chinese mainland side of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
As the tourism industry is one of the major driving forces of the economy, the HKSAR government pays great attention to the sector's new developments.
The Policy Address proposes to revitalize the tourism industry with various measures, such as developing distinctive tourism products and speeding up the development of cruise tourism, which will hopefully address the pain points and difficulties in the tourism sector, as well as promote future growth.
Once achieved as Lee has pledged, it (the legislation for Article 23 of the Basic Law) will close the remaining national security loopholes and settle Hong Kong's biggest "outstanding account".
Pressing ahead with the legislation for Article 23 of the Basic Law is a move to settle another "outstanding account" — the constitutional responsibility to enact a local law to safeguard national security, which none of the previous five administrations was able to achieve. Lee pledged to wrap up the legislation process by 2024. Once achieved as Lee has pledged, it will close the remaining national security loopholes and settle Hong Kong's biggest "outstanding account".
Promoting fertility is a move to liquidate another "outstanding account". With the birthrate having hovered at low levels for years and finally hitting a new low of 0.9 children per couple last year, the city's demographic problems have worsened to the point that they can no longer be overlooked.
Coming up with a number of measures and incentives to encourage childbearing in the new Policy Address, Lee demonstrated his determination to make a difference.
The Policy Address also included a slew of measures to expedite the development of the Northern Metropolis and build up the innovation and technology sector. The development of the northern part of Hong Kong is a long overdue initiative that has been bogged down because of the persistent hindrance by the opposition in the past, which in turn has impeded the city's innovation and technology advancement. The current administration has also demonstrated its determination to address this legacy issue.
The measures proposed in the new policy blueprint are in response to public concerns, as many of them are being adopted following public consultations. According to the chief executive, 40 consultation sessions had been held to solicit public opinion during the preparation period for the Policy Address. No wonder the final blueprint targets the needs of the public.
Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, cares a lot about the development of Hong Kong. He has reiterated on many occasions that the HKSAR government should assume primary responsibility for governing Hong Kong, expressed the hope of seeing an executive-led system firmly in place, and prodded the HKSAR government to win public trust through strong performance and greater achievements.
Lee's second Policy Address indicates that the current administration's proactive governance approach has been brought into full play, thanks to the revamped electoral system, which has brought "patriots administering Hong Kong" into effect and helped create a favorable political landscape for the current administration. But Lee and his team also deserve credit for their efforts.
Overall, the new policy blueprint further attests to a shift in the governance philosophy to a proactive approach from the traditional "small government" approach, signaling that Hong Kong is moving forward at a faster and steadier pace.
The author is vice-chairman of the Committee on Liaison with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the Hong Kong New Era Development Thinktank. The views do not necessarily reflect those of Bauhinia Magazine.
Policy Address steps up settlement of HK's 'legacy issues'
紫荆
2023-11-01 09:04
2023-11-01 09:04
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By Tu Haiming
In his second Policy Address unveiled last week, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu not only presented long-term strategies with well-defined goals but also included practical measures that target short-term issues.
The policy blueprint demonstrates vision and pragmatism, putting the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's results-oriented governance philosophy into full play.
Many of the problems mentioned in the Policy Address are legacy issues — or what I call "outstanding accounts" accumulated over the years.
These longstanding issues are intricate and formidable, and take time and effort to resolve. But the incumbent administration has grasped the nettle and confronted them head-on.
Housing and land shortages remain Hong Kong's biggest problem. Increasing public housing supply is essentially part of the efforts to settle the "outstanding accounts". The first-term HKSAR administration set a policy objective of building no fewer than 85,000 housing flats per year. However, that objective failed to be realized. And the supply of public housing has persistently failed to meet the demand, resulting in long waiting times for potential tenants, many of whom have endured poor living conditions for years.
It's thus encouraging that the government has identified sufficient land resources to meet the housing demand in the next 10 years, as revealed by Lee in his Policy Address, who noted that the average waiting time for public rental housing peaked at six years and has retreated to 5.3 years, and who foresees a further retreat to 4.5 years by 2026-27.
Aside from the many task-specific working groups the administration has established or pledged to establish, Lee announced the establishment of a Task Force on Tackling the Issue of Subdivided Units, signaling the government's determination to tackle this deep-seated problem once and for all.
The HKSAR government has recognized the increasing importance of cross-boundary elderly care in coping with rising demands as the population ages.
In his Policy Address, Lee indicates that the government will explore subsidizing elderly recipients of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance who opt to stay in residential care homes for the elderly under the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong to better support elderly people who choose to retire on the Chinese mainland side of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
As the tourism industry is one of the major driving forces of the economy, the HKSAR government pays great attention to the sector's new developments.
The Policy Address proposes to revitalize the tourism industry with various measures, such as developing distinctive tourism products and speeding up the development of cruise tourism, which will hopefully address the pain points and difficulties in the tourism sector, as well as promote future growth.
Once achieved as Lee has pledged, it (the legislation for Article 23 of the Basic Law) will close the remaining national security loopholes and settle Hong Kong's biggest "outstanding account".
Pressing ahead with the legislation for Article 23 of the Basic Law is a move to settle another "outstanding account" — the constitutional responsibility to enact a local law to safeguard national security, which none of the previous five administrations was able to achieve. Lee pledged to wrap up the legislation process by 2024. Once achieved as Lee has pledged, it will close the remaining national security loopholes and settle Hong Kong's biggest "outstanding account".
Promoting fertility is a move to liquidate another "outstanding account". With the birthrate having hovered at low levels for years and finally hitting a new low of 0.9 children per couple last year, the city's demographic problems have worsened to the point that they can no longer be overlooked.
Coming up with a number of measures and incentives to encourage childbearing in the new Policy Address, Lee demonstrated his determination to make a difference.
The Policy Address also included a slew of measures to expedite the development of the Northern Metropolis and build up the innovation and technology sector. The development of the northern part of Hong Kong is a long overdue initiative that has been bogged down because of the persistent hindrance by the opposition in the past, which in turn has impeded the city's innovation and technology advancement. The current administration has also demonstrated its determination to address this legacy issue.
The measures proposed in the new policy blueprint are in response to public concerns, as many of them are being adopted following public consultations. According to the chief executive, 40 consultation sessions had been held to solicit public opinion during the preparation period for the Policy Address. No wonder the final blueprint targets the needs of the public.
Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, cares a lot about the development of Hong Kong. He has reiterated on many occasions that the HKSAR government should assume primary responsibility for governing Hong Kong, expressed the hope of seeing an executive-led system firmly in place, and prodded the HKSAR government to win public trust through strong performance and greater achievements.
Lee's second Policy Address indicates that the current administration's proactive governance approach has been brought into full play, thanks to the revamped electoral system, which has brought "patriots administering Hong Kong" into effect and helped create a favorable political landscape for the current administration. But Lee and his team also deserve credit for their efforts.
Overall, the new policy blueprint further attests to a shift in the governance philosophy to a proactive approach from the traditional "small government" approach, signaling that Hong Kong is moving forward at a faster and steadier pace.
The author is vice-chairman of the Committee on Liaison with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the Hong Kong New Era Development Thinktank. The views do not necessarily reflect those of Bauhinia Magazine.
